Over the Limit (2011)
Over the Limit (2011) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on May 22, 2011 at the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington. It was the second event under the Over the Limit chronology. Nine matches took place during the event of which were broadcast live on pay-per-view. In the main event, Ezekiel Jackson defeated Wade Barrett by disqualification. Also featured was Big Show and Kane retaining the WWE Tag Team Championship against The New Nexus, also Brie Bella retains the Divas' Championship against Kelly Kelly, then Randy Orton retains the World Heavyweight Championship against Christian and John Cena retains the WWE Championship against The Miz in "I Quit" match. Over the Limit received 140,000 buys worldwide, significantly down from the 2010 edition's 197,000 buys. Storylines The professional wrestling matches at Over the Limit featured professional wrestlers performing as characters in scripted events pre-determined by the hosting promotion, WWE. Storylines between the characters were produced on WWE's weekly television shows Raw and SmackDown with the Raw and SmackDown brands—storyline divisions in which WWE assigned its employees to different programs. The main feud from the Raw brand heading into Over the Limit was between John Cena and The Miz over the WWE Championship. John Cena won the WWE Championship from The Miz in a triple threat steel cage match that also featured John Morrison at Extreme Rules. The Miz invoked his rematch clause the following night. He initially won the match by hitting Cena with the WWE Championship belt, but the referee immediately reversed his decision after seeing the belt in the ring. Thus, Cena retained the championship via disqualification. On the May 9 episode of Raw, The Miz defeated Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio to earn another shot at the WWE Championship. Later that night, Cena announced that their match would be an "I Quit" match. The main feud on the SmackDown brand was between Randy Orton and Christian over the World Heavyweight Championship. At Extreme Rules, Christian defeated Alberto Del Rio in a Ladder match to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. On the following episode of SmackDown, aired on May 6, Randy Orton defeated Christian to win the World Heavyweight Championship. The following week, it was announced that Christian would invoke his rematch clause against Randy Orton at Over the Limit. An ongoing feud involved Raw commentators Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler. At WrestleMania XXVII, Lawler made Cole submit to the ankle lock, but the anonymous Raw General Manager reversed the special guest referee, Stone Cold Steve Austin's decision, making Cole the winner via disqualification. At Extreme Rules, Cole teamed up with Jack Swagger to face and defeat Lawler and Jim Ross in a tag team Country Whipping match after Cole pinned Jim Ross. On Raw on May 9, Lawler challenged Cole to another match with a stipulation that Lawler would give him his Hall of Fame Ring and, should Cole be honored, personally induct him into the WWE Hall of Fame. After an altercation, Jack Swagger agreed to the match on behalf of Cole. A contract signing for the match took place on the May 16 where it was revealed after the contract was signed that the match is also going to be a "Kiss My Foot" match, where the loser must kiss the winner's feet. Another feud from the SmackDown brand involved former allies Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett, and the rest of The Corre, against Ezekiel Jackson. At Extreme Rules, Barrett and Jackson faced the WWE Tag Team Champions Big Show and Kane. Ezekiel had the early advantage in the match. However, Barrett tagged himself in the match just to get pinned by Big Show. The following week, Jackson decided to leave the Corre. Later that night, his former teammates Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, and Barrett attacked him in the locker room. On May 13, on SmackDown, Barrett challenged Jackson to a match at Over the Limit for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Another feud from the Raw brand involved R-Truth and Rey Mysterio. On May 9, Mysterio and R-Truth, along with The Miz and Alberto Del Rio had a confrontation over the number one contender-ship to the WWE Championship. The anonymous Raw General Manager, however, announced that only Mysterio, Del Rio and The Miz were to compete for the number one contendership in a Triple Threat match. R-Truth still believes that he is better than the other three, especially Rey Mysterio. After the Triple Threat match, which was won by The Miz, Truth attacked Mysterio in the ring. The following week, R-Truth announced that he will face Mysterio at Over the Limit. On May 16, it was announced that the WWE Tag Team Champions The Big Show and Kane would defend their title against Mason Ryan and CM Punk from the New Nexus at Over the Limit. On SmackDown, on May 20, it was announced that Brie Bella would defend her WWE Divas Championship against Kelly Kelly at Over the Limit. On the same night, Chavo Guerrero announced that he would be facing Sin Cara. Aftermath Results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * Over the Limit Category:Over the Limit Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2011 Pay-Per-View Events